New Delhi: The personal security officer of sacked Uttarakhand Minorities Commission chairman Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, who was initially detained in connection with the double murder case of Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep, was released on Saturday night.

Namdhari had reportedly told the police that his PSO Sachin Tyagi had shot at Hardeep in self defence. There were allegations that it was Tyagi's firing that killed Hardeep. Though Tyagi has been released, he will continue to be a part of the investigation in the case.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Crime Branch on Sunday recovered the pistol that Namdhari allegedly used to fire at Hardeep on November 17 at the Chhatarpur farmhouse in Delhi, where the two brothers allegedly opened fire at each other. The licensed pistol was recovered from Namdhari's farmhouse in Bazpur in Udhamsinghnagar district in Uttarakhand.

Delhi Police had recovered two licensed pistols from the scene of the shootout last week. Police said they also found 122 live cartridges in Hardeep's Mercedes, which could mean that Ponty's brother had come well-prepared to the farmhouse.

Namdhari was on Sunday taken to his Bazpur farmhouse. He would also be taken to other parts of the state as well as to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, from where the police were likely to detain his aides. Ponty and Hardeep had dispute over properties and police had claimed that Namdhari's men could have aided Ponty in taking control of the Chadha family's disputed farmhouse in Delhi hours before the two brothers allegedly opened fire at each other.

Police had said on Saturday that Namdhari had admitted to firing at Hardeep and has been charged with attempt to murder. A Delhi court sent him to a five-day police custody after hearing the case. Earlier, he was arrested by the police for multiple charges like trespassing, robbery and attempt to murder.

Namdhari, however, has refuted the charges saying it is a political conspiracy against him as none of the FIRs in the double murder case of Ponty and his brother Hardeep case carry his name.